Shoe racks



J. L. BROWN Oct. 23, 1956 SHOE RACKS Filed Dec. 7, 1951 INVENTOR I Z0 Jamed/lflyd B/wwn/ BY W I Fly .4

ATTORNEY United States Patent SHOE RACKS James Lloyd Brown, St. Paul, Minn. Application December 7, 1951, Serial No. 260,459 1 Claim. (Cl. 211-38) This invention relates to an improvement in shoe racks wherein it is desired to provide a simple and efiective device for supporting a plurality of pairs of shoes.

Various types of racks have been provided for supporting shoes when they are not in use. Many of these racks are designed for attachment to the wall of a closet or the like so that the shoes may be supported in pairs in side by side relation. The presentdevice resides in a simple rack for supporting a plurality of pairs of shoes and which has the advantage of being portable and removable for quicker access to the shoes.

In the shoe racks for storing shoes which are in most common use, the racks are ordinarily anchored in place and can not be readily moved. In some instances it is desirable that the racks may be removed so that the closet or surrounding area may be more effectively cleaned. The present device is portable and may be easily moved while the shoes are still supported thereupon, thereby simplifying the task of cleaning and also simplifying the task of selecting the shoes to be worn.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a shoe rack which may be produced at an extremely low cost. Most types of shoe racks are relatively expensive and can not be produced for a low cost. The present device is simple in nature and may be produced of fiber board or the like so that the cost of the racks is extremely small.

A feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a shoe rack and carrier which includes a pair of spaced inclined walls connected by a bottom panel. The spaced inclined walls are held in proper relation by a handle member which interlocks with the walls. One or more pairs of shoes may be supported by each inclined panel and one or more pairs of shoes may be supported upon the base panel. As a result a single rack may be used to support a plurality of pairs of shoes in a relatively small area.

A feature of the present invention lies in the fact that the shoe rack is made of two members of flat sheet material. As a result the racks may be shipped and stored in an extremely small space and at the same time the racks may be quickly and easily assembled. This is important from a standpoint of shipping, storage and merchandising and eliminates any assembly cost on the part of the manufacturer.

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claim.

In the drawings forming a part of my specification:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shoe rack showing the construction thereof.

Figure 2 is an end elevation view of the rack illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view of the blank from which the handle unit of the apparatus is formed.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of the blank from which the body portion of the rack is formed.

The shoe rack is designated in general by the letter 2,767,855 Patented Oct. 23, 1956 A. The rack includes two main parts, a handle unit which is designated in general by the numeral 10 and a body unit which is designated in general by the numeral 11. When assembled in proper relation, these two parts form the entire rack and carrier.

The body portion 11 includes a bottom panel 12 which is foldably connected by fold lines 13 and 14 to wall panels 15 and 16 respectively. The wall panels 15 and 16 are preferably similar in size and shape if the rack is to support shoes overlying both of the side walls. The panel 15 is provided with an elongated slot 17 extending at right angles to the fold line 13 and preferably mid-way between the end edges 19 and 20 of the body. The center portion of the slot 17 may be enlarged as indicated at 21 to simplify the task of stripping the material forming the slot from the panel 15 in the event the rack is produced of fiber-board, heavy paper board, or the like.

The panel 16 is provided with an elongated slot 22 which is arranged in alignment with the slot 17 and at right angles to the fold lines 13 and 14. The slot 22 is also provided with an enlarged center portion 23 in the event the device is formed of paper board or similar material so as to simplify the stripping out of the material within the slot.

The handle 10 is constructed as best illustrated in Figure 3. The undersurface 24 of the handle 10 may be provided with an elongated notch 25 if desired so as to elevate the center portion of the handle and to utilize less stock in the formation. Side edges 26 and 27 converge upwardly and inwardly from the bottom edge 24. Locking tongues 29 and 30 project beyond the converging edges 26 and 27. Slots 31 and 32 respectively separate the upper ends of these tongues 29 and 30 from the side edges 26 and 27. Shoulders 33 and 34 define the lower ends of the tongues 29 and 30.

The upper extremity of the handle member 10 tapers inwardly as indicated at 35 and 36 so that the upper extremity of the handle portion is substantially narrower than the lower end thereof. An aperture 37 is usually provided through the handle portion 10 so as to facilitate the lifting of the rack.

In shipment and storage, the parts 10 and 11 are usually held in flat form and are packaged together with one part resting in surface contact with the other. When it is desired to assemble the rack, one ear such as 29 is inserted through the slot 17. This is accomplished by inserting the upper end of the ear 29 into the slot 17 so that the portion of the panel 15 outwardly of the slot 17 is engaged in the slot 31. When thus engaged the shoulder 33 will project through the lower end of the notch 17. The other panel 16 is then assembled by in setting the upper end of the tongue 30 through the slot 22. The portion of the panel 16 outwardly of the slot 22 is engaged in the slot 32 between the tongue 39 and the edge 27. When the tongue is entirely inserted the shoulder 34 enters the lower end of the slot 22 and is engaged therein. The panels 15 and 16 must be flexed or bent to some extent in order to insert the tongues 29 and 30 into the slots 17 and 22. As the Wall panels normally tend to be flat, the handle element is held in place once the tongues have been inserted. When in this direction the upper ends of the handle members project above the panels 15 and 16 so that the rack may be easily lifted.

In use, one pair of shoes, indicated in dotted outline in Figure 1 by the letter B, are suspended from one wall panel 15 while another pair of shoes is suspended to overlie the panel 16. A third pair of shoes may be rested upon the bottom panel 12 portions of the shoes extending beneath the handle element 10.

The rack illustrated is thus particularly designed for wider one pair of shoes may be supported on each side of the handle member and one pair of shoes may be supported upon the bottom panel on either side of the handle. Thus by widening the support to some extent, six pairs of shoes may be easily supported in place of three.

In the event it is desired to store the rack, it may be disassembled and placed in fiat condition. While the rack usually remains erected once the same has been set up, it can be erected and taken apart as desired.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my shoe rack, and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following claim without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

A shoe rack including three panels connected together, one of said panels comprising a horizontal base panel and the others of said panels comprising wall panels extending from said base panel in upwardly converging relation and having horizontal upper edges, said converging panels having opposed slots therein,

with upwardly converging slde edges arranged in a vertical plane extending between and intersecting said wall a handle member panels at substantially right angles, each side edge of said handle provided with an upwardly extending projection forming a notch with respect to the associated side edge, said projections extending through the wall panel slots and embracing portions of the wall panels within said notches, said handle extending above the level of the horizontal upper edges of the wall panels and having its lower edge spaced above the horizontal base panel, whereby at least one pair of shoes can be hung by the heels from the horizontal upper edge of each wall panel and at least one other pair of shoes can be placed on the horizontal base panel beneath the lower edge of the handle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 735,925 Winter Aug. 11, 1903 1,635,673 Horowitz July 12, 1927 1,670,973 May May 22, 1928 1,822,297 Kemery Sept. 8, 1931 1,987,439 Froehlig Jan. 8, 1935 2,112,535 Kondolf Mar. 29, 1938 2,307,993 Calhoun et al. Jan. 12, 1943 2,489,034 James Nov. 22, 1949 2,513,762 Tyson July 4, 1950 2,598,710 Murphy June 3, 1952 

